A selection of the holiday 2008 solid perfume compacts from Estee Lauder (there are a total of 18 new perfume compacts this season, plus another 15 that hold powder):
Above left, Estee Lauder Sensuous in the “Cathedral Square” compact…
Pacifica Avalon Juniper & Tibetan Mountain Temple ~ brief perfume reviews
Pacifica, a brand that concentrated on scented candles and body products before introducing a range of personal scents last year, is turning out to be a great resource for anyone looking for decent, wearable fragrances at a budget price — to my mind, they fit into the same niche that L’Occitane used to fill before they started inching towards upscale*. The Pacifica fragrances are not wildly complicated, but they’re generally nicely done with attractive packaging, and the blends are more sophisticated than you’d expect for the price: $8.95 for a 10 gr solid compact, $19.95 for a 35 ml bottle of “Spray Perfume”.
Here are brief reviews of my favorite two out of Pacifica’s latest batch of releases, Avalon Juniper and Tibetan Mountain Temple. Both fragrances are unisex. Please bear in mind that I’m trying both in their solid form, and have never smelled either in the liquid form. I love solid perfumes, but admittedly, what you gain in portability, you lose in complexity and sillage…
Bunch o’ limited edition collector bottles 2008, part 7
More limited edition collector fragrance bottles, with the usual disclaimers: in most of these cases, the juice is unchanged, just the bottle is “special” (or not, as the case may be), and some of these may not be available in the US.
L’édition Luxe L de Lolita Lempicka, in a limited edition, signed and numbered (1805 bottles were made) Baccarat crystal flacon. 50 ml Extrait de Parfum, 800€ at Sephora in France…
Gwen Stefani Harajuku Lovers ~ perfume review and quick poll
As long as I'm buying a perfume anyway, I'd just as soon have it in a pretty bottle — I mean, why not? And if I'm dithering over whether or not to buy something, a pretty bottle might just push me over the edge. Still, I'm not what you'd call a bottle hound. I've never bought anything just for the bottle before, and ultra-luxe packaging doesn't generally interest me beyond the fun of oohing and aahing over the picture. I'd certainly never pay extra for it if the scent was available in a cheaper version, and fragrances that are only available in ultra-luxe trappings set off my worst cynical leanings. I'm not entirely immune to “must have it” perfume packaging, though: turns out all you have to do is suspend 5 molded plastic doll's heads inside a cardboard gift box with a clear plastic top, and I'm a goner.
Yep, I'm here to admit that I smelled all five of Gwen Stefani's new Harajuku Lovers fragrances, found them generally wanting, took a good look at the coffret of solid perfumes and had one paid for, wrapped in tissue and ready to go in a matter of minutes…
Gwen Stefani Harajuku Lovers solid perfumes
These are the new solid perfumes for the Gwen Stefani Harajuku Lovers fragrances. The coffret of all five is $60 at Nordstrom.